New developments in Coastal Bend on path to fruition

That something good for the local economy has been happening of late in the Corpus Christi area is no longer news. The area has, in fact, been on something of a good-news roll as, for example, an Italian-owned plastics manufacturer has been clearing hurdles to build in the port area and the Schlitterbahn group has now targeted North Padre Island for a signature water park resort.

But two news developments last week underscored the reality of what so far has been more about "coming attractions" than an actual "grand opening" when it comes to economic development. There was nothing more real about the upbeat economic fortunes for the area than the more than 400 job seekers who lined up Friday in Portland for the first of what has been promised to be hundreds of jobs at the now-under-construction TPCO America Corp. steel mill.

The Chinese-owned mill, developers say, will eventually employ up to 800 when it is fully built out by 2015. The billion-dollar development was first announced in 2009. Construction of the giant facility has already begun at the site near Gregory in San Patricio County. But hundreds who lined up Friday at the Portland Community Center was the first tangible sign that, yes, the mill really is coming.

No less real was the announcement the same day by NuStar Energy, a major player in the energy field, that it is investing $425 million to acquire pipelines, storage facilities and other oil and gas transportation infrastructure in the Eagle Ford Shale play. What is important about the NuStar announcement is that it means the Eagle Ford, the oil and gas wunderkind of the South Texas economy, is moving from the age of discovery to the age of major production.

The Eagle Ford's impact on the regional economy has been the economic story of 2012 in South Texas. In fact, the mill in San Patricio County and the NuStar investment have the Eagle Ford as the common denominator. Together, the two major investments show that the Eagle Ford has the long economic legs to carry the region for a long time. The two developments underscore the reality of the promises of economic development in the South Texas area. Those were real people lining up for jobs in San Patricio County and those were real dollars placed on the table by NuStar.

The job seekers' turnout in Portland was especially impressive given that only about 30 jobs were to be immediately filled. But the applicants obviously had the goal of putting their applications into what will obviously be a larger applicant pool as the mill comes closer to fruition.

South Texas and the Corpus Christi area has had its share of announced economic developments that never panned out, or just fizzled for reasons outside of their backers' control. The emerging TPCO facility and investments by NuStar say that our luck is turning.